choosing psych b/c you hate medicine?

[zenobia]

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hey guys,

so here's my story. rank lists are due next week 😱, which is stressing me out b/c i didn't really like any of the programs i interviewed at. i applied for family medicine b/c i thought that maybe i'd work at an outpt clinic after residency. i thought about incorporating alternative therapies to practice in a more integrative fashion. etc. etc. but now i'm having second thoughts. the truth is, i really don't like medicine, or peds, and definitely not ob/gyn. however, i have to say, i do enjoy talking to people, hearing their stories, and helping them out... which makes me wonder, is psych a better fit for me? i had a limited exposure during third year, which was at an inpt lock-down scary mental institution... i don't think i could handle working in that kind of environment. outpt psych seems appealing, but i wonder how emotionally draining it could get, seeing depressed/suicidal pts all the time and dealing with the inevitable... one of my pt's committing suicide. my dilemma right now is whether i should pull out of match, reapply next year for psych, or just suck it up and continue with family. or get out of medicine altogether... apparently, also, it's not as easy as i thought to switch residencies if i decided to switch into psych after a year of family, given that psych is 4 yrs vs family is 3. so, given all that... any thoughts/advice? and
any thoughts on outpt psych, how happy ppl are in it, whether it is very emotionally draining, etc.?

 

[chitown1123]

Well I can only say what I would do in your situation. I think that if you liked family you should give it a try given that family programs see a large variety of everything including psych. As far as not liking anything a whole lot I would rethink why you started med school in the first place and that could help you point yourself in the right direction.

Psych has its upsides and downsides just like any other area of medicine. Sure there are some patient that you see who are depressed and suicidal, thats the bread and butter along with anxiety, adjustment disorders, schizophrenia, etc. Even so every depressed patient isn't suicidal.

So to get to the point of your question I would say do family for a year, you may be surprised and actually love it. When I look back on some of the rotations that I didn't like as much it wasn't the actual rotation but the limits of being a third year student. Along the psych interview trail I have been introduced to more than a few programs that offer PGY2 spots for residents who spent a year doing something else. Those programs include John Hopkins, NYU, Emory, etc.


I hope this helps. Good luck🙄😀

 

[RaistlinMajere]

Can you tell me more about what exactly you hate about medicine? What drew you to medical school? Does some of it still hold true? I'd like to know more before pointing you in a direction.

 

[cleareyedguy]

If you have time in your schedule, do a month or two of psych before graduation. That can help you decide.

Plenty of people do switch into psych, and it can be done right now (pull out of the Match and try to scramble) or during your internship year (kind of crummy for the place you match, but many programs have opening for the PGY 2 year). Alternatively, you can pull out of the match, try to take some psych, try to scramble, but be ready to take a year and explore psych through research and more clinical stuff. if a useful year, it would help your application.

but i agree with the others, if you are simply uninterested in the day-to-day responsibilties and burdens of being a dr, you need to decide whether it's temporary cold feet or whether you shoudl take your md, stick it on your resume, and do something else...

 

[marie337]

...you need to decide whether it's temporary cold feet or whether you shoudl take your md, stick it on your resume, and do something else...

I've personally considered this option at times recently, and student loans can make this a pretty unrealistic option. What are the options for a doctor with no internship or residency? Can you teach anatomy or something? Seriously, I'm not sure what the options are. I will most likely end up in psychiatry because everything is pointing me that direction. But, sometimes I wonder if my D.O. would be completely wasted if I quit after graduation.

 

[futuredo32]

What a predicament for you Chitown. I'd agree with the others who suggested doing a few psychiatry rotations with some time spent in an outpatient clinic to see if it would be something that you would actually like. I remember reading surveys posted somewhere on SDN stating that psychiatrists were among the happier of specialities, but what makes one person happy doesn't guarantee happiness for another person.

Since you mentioned an interest in integrative medicine, I did an OMM rotation and while the doctors were doing OMM on the patients, they did exactly what you said you enjoy- talking to the patients, hearing their stories, and trying to help them solve their issues. Some MDs do OMM, I don't know whether it's through a fellowship or CMEs, but that might be something to consider if you go the FP route. (You'd still have to endure OB and all of the other not so fun FP rotations)

Good luck with your decision.🙂

 

[michaelrack]

Can you teach anatomy or something?

I have known several MD's who didn't complete residency. Some of the things they have done are working in Starbucks and teaching anatomy at a jr. college.

I think that if you complete an internship, you may be able to do social security disablity exams, though I am not 100% sure of this.

An MD degree will give you an advantage in some business career fields (check out the Investment banking threads in the business forums), but it doesn't eliminate the other requirements of those careers.